Man Facing Electric Chair Pleads Guilty To 2 Murders

Already facing the death penalty for a 1982 murder and serving a life sentence on federal racketeering and drug charges, Raymond ``Little Ray`` Thompson on Monday pleaded guilty to two 1980 murders.

Broward Circuit Judge Russell Seay sentenced Thompson to two concurrent terms of 17 1/2 years in prison for murdering Robert Arnold Vogt, 36, of Pembroke Park, and William Timothy Harris, 35, of Hollywood.

In effect, Thompson will not serve any additional prison time for these deaths because the penalty will run concurrent with his sentence on the racketeering and drug charges.

Howard Finkelstein, Thompson`s attorney, and Assistant State Attorney Kelly Hancock said they agreed to allow Thompson, charged with first-degree murder, to plead guilty to second-degree murder, which carries a lesser penalty.

No matter what kind of sentence he received, Thompson will probably be in prison for the rest of his life, they said.

``If the death sentence is upheld, this doesn`t matter at all,`` Hancock said. ``It was in our best interest rather than going through a six-week trial.``

According to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement informant, Vogt and Harris were put aboard a yacht and taken seven miles out to sea off Fort Lauderdale by three men who were following Thompson`s orders.

Law enforcement authorities say Vogt and Harris were members of Thompson`s $700 million drug-smuggling empire, which he ran from 1978 to 1981 at the former Amity Yacht Center on Southwest 21st Avenue in Fort Lauderdale.

Vogt and Harris apparently had caused a disagreement at the boatyard and Thompson was quoted by authorities as saying, ``I want them dead.``

Three men took Vogt and Harris aboard a boat, tied them with rope and chains, secured anchors to them, shot them and dumped them at sea, authorities said.

Thompson allegedly rewarded the hit men with $50,000 each and ``a kiss on the forehead,`` authorities said.

Thompson already faces the death penalty for the murder of James Savoy, a friend of Thompson`s for 18 years. Savoy, of Hallandale, apparently incurred Thompson`s ire by stealing several hundred thousand dollars from him.

Thompson last year was convicted of kidnapping Savoy, 55, holding him captive and torturing him for a day before shooting him point-blank in the head and then dumping his weighted body into the ocean.

Broward Circuit Judge Stanton Kaplan in August 1986 sentenced Thompson to the electric chair for Savoy`s murder, despite the jury`s recommendation for a life sentence.

The bodies of Savoy and the other two victims have not been found.

Thompson is appealing his death sentence, Finkelstein said.

U.S. District Judge Lenore Nesbitt sentenced Thompson later that year to life in prison on racketeering and drug charges. Thompson is not eligible for parole.